CMOS/BIOS battery replacement in T480 - plug stuck?

[mraroid]

Hi Folks...

I am mailing off a T480 I am building for my friend. As he is not a computer person, I decried to replace the original CMOS/BIOS battery in the T480. The one installed appears to be the one that was installed when the laptop was built. So when that battery fails, he would have to mail it back to me to fix.

I found a T480 battery replacement on Amazon. It is made by a company called LJCell. It looked like the original. Here is my issue...

No amount of tugging and pulling on the plug into the socket on the motherboard of the T480 seems to unplug the old BIOS/CMOS battery. I looked at the service manual for the T480 and it was no help.

I pulled and pushed anything I could find on the plug and socket to see if I needed to do something so it would unplug, but nothing.
I have great tools as well as small needle nose pliers.

What trick am I missing? Or am I just being too gentle tugging on the plug?
Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
mraroid

[RealBlackStuff]

Put a thin flat screwdriver straight down between the left side of plug and socket and gently move the top of the screwdriver only a little to the left, then to the right.
Do the same on the right side.
Repeat if necessary.
Do NOT use brute force, or you'll rip the whole socket of the motherboard.
If all else fails, cut he black wire first, then the red wire, in the middle of the cable and remove the old CMOS.
Remove about 5mm of the insulation from the leftover old socket-wires.
Cut the plug off the new CMOS cable as well, in the middle, black first, then red.
Remove about 5mm of the insulation from the leftover new CMOS-wires.
Twist the old red socket- and new CMOS-wires together, solder them, then put some insulation (scotch tape, electricians tape, etc.) around that 'joint'.
Do the same for the black wires.

[mraroid]

Hello... This is the best solution yet. I will give this a try tonight. I hope to move the plug out of the socket (if possible). I like the method you posted with a flat screwdriver blade.

Thanks so much. I will report back in 24/48 hours with my results.

Best,
mraroid

[mraroid]

RealBlackStuff...

Success! I took your advice and worked and worked on that plug and jack. After about 5 minutes, I was still fighting with it, but then it finally unplugged! I was so happy.

I noticed something on the original plug as well as the new one I bought on Amazon. On the bottom of the plug, towards the part closest to the wires leaving the plug is a small plastic dome. This little dome is a "catch" that I had not noticed until the plug finally unplugged (using your directions). It may be that somehow one is suppose to push down on the socket bottom, or maybe pull up slightly on the plug to unlatch the two?? Or maybe it is just something to keep the plug plugged in and kept it from becoming loose with time. I don't know.

Anyway, I very much appreciate your advice and help! I cant believe how much time I invested in swapping out a CMOS battery. It took me less time to pull the fan and heat sync, clean off the fan, and clean the old thermal paste off it & the CPU & GPU and re install it.

And we do this for the fun of it, right??!!

mraroid

[RealBlackStuff]

Glad it worked!
If you watch the Lenovo T470/T480 videos, you would probably have ripped the connector off the motherboard!